Soaring Bird
by LittleSol
Summary: An ancient family story talks about a pendant that was given to them by the gods. Not much is known, but Isabella is forced to follow a tradition because of it. Wanting to be freed from its curse, she finds courage and love in a bronze-haired boy.
1. Prologue

**^^ Hopefully some people will like my stories. I have told some of my friends this storyline and they said that it was very original. This is what inspired me to start posting it up here. As of now, this is only the introduction but I will try to post up the first chapter later today. Thanks for reading my story.**

**Summary: Isabella Swan has been locked away from the world ever since she was very young because of her great-great-grandmother's will. Afraid to stand up for what she believes in, she takes refuge in her bedroom staring out through the window at the world she wants to explore. Living without any friends has made Isabella Swan different from all the other women who seek marriage into a rich family. Not only is her dream to discover true love, she has developed a tomboyish manner in order to hide her inner self. When she meets her father's old friend's son, Edward, she is determined to break out of her shell and become the person she has dreamed of being.**

**DISCLAIMER: T-T though I want to very much, I do not own the characters of this story except for the ones I have made up. All rights belong to Stephanie Meyer**

The pendant that glistens in the light of the moon is as old as the legend that comes with it. It is said to have been a gift from the gods above when the most beautiful girl in the world was born. She lived happily and never worried about a thing. She was the prize of all men seeking to have her hand in marriage. When that fateful day came and she had turned sixteen, it is believed that men from around the world came for her. They had offered her priceless jewels, acres of land, and even marriage into royalty but were all rejected.  
" I shall only marry the person who is the purest of heart. I do not wish for money or fame. The one person I will choose as my husband must be someone I can fall in love with. That is my wish."  
Hearing the young lady's melodic voice, all men sought to make her fall madly in love with him. However, no matter how hard they tried, it was futile. For you see, she had fallen in love with a young nobleman who was her closest friend. She had planned to confess her feelings to him on the night of the full moon but had fallen suddenly ill. She tried to hang on for as long as possible until she could see her beloved again. She waited and waited for months on end. Her last day of life was also the last time she heard about the one she loved. She had waited too long for her confession. Her best friend had fallen in love with a girl that was new in town. They were planning to get married as soon as possible. When she heard about this, she cried until her heart screamed in pain. She died of a broken heart. People can still hear her crying as of to this day.  
" I regret not being able to have a chance to tell him how I feel.... I wish to at least protect one person from the cost of love...."  
This was what started this ridiculous tradition. I still wonder why no one has questioned this. Out of everyone to be chosen to follow my great-great-grandmother's wish, I had to be the one. Being trapped here is the worst thing to have happened in my life. I would rather die than to live this life. I want to have real friends and break this curse of mine. I want to be the free bird that follows the wind no matter where it might take me, the soaring bird of my dreams.

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	2. The Beginnings of Fate

**^^ I finally managed to finish the first chapter of my story. Thank you to those who reviewed my story. I never imagined to get reviews for only the prologue. I checked this chapter for grammar and spelling errors but there might be a few I didn't catch. Please post up a comment if there is something I could do to improve the story.**

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of Twilight.**

**A/N: This story takes place in about the 1500s. Bella is seventeen years old and Angela is twenty three. I am not sure if there are ships in the 1500s so if you do know the answer to this, I would be really grateful if you told me.**

BPOV

I could hear birds singing joyfully and children laughing and screaming in excitement as I was laying down on my bed. It was like any other day for me, absolutely nothing interesting. Sighing, I jumped off the bed onto the wooden floor and dragged myself to the bookcase containing books I had read so many times already. Not really caring which one I choose, I jumped up high enough to grab one of the older looking books on the top shelf. There was some dust on the cover which I instinctively blew away. I started coughing when I accidently breathed in some of it. As I fanned away the rest of the dust, I took a quick glance at the title of the book: The Silver Eagle.

" Ugh.... just what I need to start the afternoon... _another_ book on the history of the Swan family," I mumbled to myself.

I tossed the book onto a nearby desk and heard a small thud as I walked over to the mirror for my usual routine. The reflection on the mirror was what I expected. My long brown hair was a mess due to the tossing and turning on my bed and there were a few bags under my eyes because of the dreams I have been having lately. The brown eyes staring at me from the mirror looked lifeless but wouldn't it be the same if someone else was forced to live the life I had too? I grabbed a brush and began untangling my hair.

My name is Isabella Marie Swan but I have always hated sounding so formal. It wasn't like I was a princess or anything though in reality the Swan family is close to royalty. My dad, Charlie Swan, was the son of a very famous nobleman from England that served in a war quite a few years back while my mother, Renee Laveile, was the daughter of a duke from France. The details are still a little bit blurry, but I know for a fact that the minute they had set eyes on each other, it was love right there. Since they both came from families of high status, it was obvious that objection to their marriage was out of the question. As soon as they were married, Renee and Charlie planned to move to a small town near the ocean called Sanoria which is my hometown.

Charlie is about thirty years old while Renee is only a few years younger than him. Charlie was well built and was literally as strong as an ox. His shiny brown hair and happy smile always brightened my mood. Charlie also knew his place in the world. He had unswerving loyalty to his parents and to his country. Renee on the otherhand was more gentle and purehearted. She too had brown hair that was a tad bit curly and reached down to her waist. Her favorite thing to do was cooking and in my opinion, her food is the best in town.

When I was born, we were one big happy family living in peace near the shore. Dad bought himself a ship and loved traveling around the world bringing back gifts for me and Renee. He named it Free Bird because he could always steer the ship to wherever he wanted without any troubles. Charlie promised me I could ride on it one day about when I was ten years old.

Renee opened up her own medical shop. She created all kinds of medicines using the herbs that grow in the forest nearby. The townsfolk loved the convenience and claimed that Renee was an angel from heaven. However she eventually gave up on the medical dream. She said that there were so many other different jobs she could do that would still help people. I never understood her logic but I just accepted the fact that she changed her mind a little too often.

Those happy days ended about three years ago which was when I was fourteen. I didn't have a clue to what was going on. Renee was hugging me tightly as tears slid down her eyes. Charlie was pacing back and forth mumbling to himself about stupid he was. It turned out that Charlie's dad found out about me. I was so confused at first. Why would my own dad keep me as a secret from my grandfather?

Before I had a clue as to what was going on, I heard horses stopping abruptly outside and doors being slammed open. I started crying as Charlie grabbed my arm harshly and presented me to his dad. His dad seemed like a cold person. His eyes were like stone and his face seemed to be set as a frown. He was taller than Charlie and his grayish hair came down to a loww ponytail. There were black streaks in it as well. I screamed in terror as soon as he looked me over and shoved me toward the carriage that was waiting outside. Everything else was a blur. The only thing I remembered was Renee screaming at Charlie's dad to let me go and take her instead. I can hazily recall Renee begging Charlie to do something about it. All he did was turn the other way. He never even said good bye to me. I think that was why I felt abandoned then. He didn't love me very much as a father. If he truly did love me, Charlie would've at least tried to do something to save me.

I mentally sighed.  
_And after all these years, I still haven't been able to escape from this place_, I thought, _Why couldn't they stop following this bogus tradition and realize how stupid this is?!_

Losing myself in anger, I threw the brush like a dagger at the unsuspecting portrait of my " dear" grandfather, Nicholas Swan. I came back to reality when I heard footsteps racing above me and gradually coming towards the stairs leading down to my room. Angela bursted through the door and tripped on my blanket landing painfully on her stomach.

I flinched. "Ouch.... _that's_ gotta hurt."

" You think?" Angela groaned, " I swear that one of these days, as head maid, I will make you clean up this room. It is suited more for pigs than human beings."

" Hahaha," I laughed sarcastically crossing my arms, " And before you know it, humans will start growing snouts when they set foot here."

" That wasn't very funny."

" Neither was your little joke."

There was a short moment of silence before we both started laughing randomly.

This is Angela Weber, my only friend here that I have ever made since being forced to live here with my grandfather. At about five feet tall, she was very intelligent and loved to clean and cook. She said that being able to work at such a gorgeous mansion (in my opinion: gorgeous death trap) was an honor especially because it involved serving one of the most famous noblemen in history. Angela had a petite slender figure with pale skin and straight brown hair that made her look very young. Most people that worked here always said that she looked about seventeen years old when in reality she was about twenty three. Angela was like my older sister since the first time we met. She calmed me down when I first arrived and tried explaining everything to me. My eyes eventually wandered to the shiny engagement ring on her hand. I involuntarily smiled.

"What?" Angela asked, "Something on my face?"

"No no no. nothing of the sort actually, " I whispered as I gazed at the light being given off by the diamond.

"Oh..." Angela responded realizing what i was staring at.

Angela was engaged to one of the most wealithest men here in this huge port town of Celsa. According to her, her fiancee, Ben, had just asked her to be his wife a couple of weeks ago. Until everything was settled, she would be living here in my grandfather's mansion. It was a touchy subject for me really because after the wedding, I would never be able to see her again. Angela would be living in one of those beautiful cottages by the sea with her newly wed. I knew for sure that they would have as many children as possible because I knew by heart that Angela had always wanted a large family. I could picture even now how stunning Angela would look in a white wedding dress with a viel over her head. Ben would be waiting for her on the altar and when he lifted up the piece of cloth covering her face from the outside world, he would gasp in amazement at the angel standing before him. I wanted to be there when that happened, but because I was not allowed to be out of the building, I could never attend the wedding unless it was a private one inside of the mansion. I guess I was frowning a little while I was thinking because before another minute passed by, Angela gently grabbed my hand.

"I can tell even now what you are thinking. You want to attend the wedding correct?"

I nodded silently.

We both grabbed a chair from my desk and sat down.

"I know this is hard for you and all but you know how much this wedding means to me, " Angela said tearing up, "I am really going to miss you and all but instead of focusing on the wedding, why don't you start focusing on love yourself?"

"You know why I can't, " I said my voice cracking in the middle, "Because of this family story that is passed down from the Swan family, I am cursed to spend the rest of my life in this house for eternity."

Tears were welling up in my eyes and I tried my best to stop them from falling.

All because of this.... this story, I am cursed into solitude. The story comes with a pendant shaped like a silver feather. Charlie used to tell me this as a bedtime story and i would imagine as a little child what the angelic like princess would look like. I would always imagine her on a golden throne with men bowing down before her. There would be hundreds of lines of potential husbands lining up for a chance to dazzle the lady. She would have long silky blonde hair that curled at the end and a white smile that sparkled even at night. The princess would be wearing a blue dress endorned with jewels. I would always cry at the end when Charlie started the part about how she never got a chance to confess to her best friend. It was just so sad how she lost without even getting a chance to win him over.

I was shocked three years ago when I found out the truth about the story. The princess i imagined sitting on the throne was believed to be my great-great-grandmother. my grandfather said that before she died, a will was left before her. It contained a message in poem form about what was her death wish.

_Everything seems beautiful to me from where I stand_

_Unable to unlock the truth behind the door before me_

_Taunting me with its secrets, I finally found a way through it_

_But at what cost? at what pain and suffering?_

_I ask of thee to take consideration_

_in the wish of my life_

_Wounded by love, I want_

_Protect the next beautiful girl from_

_the mysteries and treacheries of love itself_

_the one that will inherit my pendant_

_shall be granted a wish if she proves_

_that love can truly conquer all_

_~Sophia Swan_

"Bella... Isabella Swan~ anybody there?"

". . ."

"Hey Bella! WAKE UP!"

I heard something crash against the wall behind me and for some reason my neck was craned to the right. Having an inkling to what was going on, I turned around to see that what had almost hit me was a book, a thick one in fact. Turning back around, I stared in shock at Angela as she was innocently whistling.

"Angela!"

"What?" Angela asked, "That was the only way to get you to come back to the real world."

I stared at her blankly. I didn't know whether or not to thank her or punch her.

"I still can't believe you dodged that..." she mumbled, "I thought my aiming was perfect this time."

I rubbed the top of my head which was the site where she had hit last time. I thanked the gods for once that it was a book and not a pot. I guess my body learned how to make sure that Angela did not hit its target. That pot gave me one of the worst headaches in my life. I still wonder how she managed to sneak a pot into my room without alerting me to its prescence.

"I am kind of glad that this time it wasn't made of metal...." i grumbled.

Angela laughed nervously, "You are still holding a grudge on that? I told you that I was sorry already."

"Yeah but sorry doesn't take away the memory."

Angela was silent for a second. I waited.

"Well how about I make it up to you?" Angela suggested with sparkles in her eyes, "I know the one thing that'll cheer you up before you know it."

"Which is....?"

"Shopping!"

"Angela!" I whined, "Grandfather is still mad at me about the last time I sneaked out! He ended up locking the door from the outside so I could never escape again. besides I hate shopping. You know how I hate having to spend hours just picking out one stinkin' dress."

"But you still want to anyway?"

"Well duh. I haven't been outta this house for five months now, "I sighed, " Fine I'll try sneaking out again but this time WARN me before opening the door!"

"Okay okay okay geesh. I did tell you that it sounded like your grandpa was nearby but it was too late by that time."

"So.... how am I gonna escape this time?"

"Your grandfather didn't bolt down the windows did he?" Angela asked her eyes pointing suggestively at the windows.

Without another word, she jumped up from the chair she was sitting on and opened my dresser. She dug out one of the pairs of pants and shirts that we were hiding there for easy getaways.

"Put these on and I'll get the usual bandanna you love so much."

Angela turned the other way as soon as she tossed the clothes to me. I quickly undressed and put on the brown trouser and white shirt. I instinctively caught my favorite bandanna and tied it over my head so that it was concealing my hair. I ran over to the mirror to make sure everything looked okay.

"There, "Angela stated while brushing off her hands, "You now look like one of those sailors. Just please don't try gambling again like last time. We were practically chased all over town."

"I think that they are just sore losers, "I said, "It isn't my fault that I happened to keep getting royal straight flushes."

"Suuuuure," Angela said not believeing a single word I said, "Just don't even go anywhere near those bars. We'll go shopping for some clothes, stop at the port for a little bit, and come back home before your grandfather knows what you have been doing for the entire day."

She skipped to the door and opened it. Before walking out, she sang joyfully, "Remember to wear the boots instead of the ones you usually wear. We don't want to have anyone recognize you by your clothes again. Grandfather would throw a fit if he heard news about you being outside. You know how he gets when he can't keep a promise. Meet at the usual place?"

"Yeah sure."

The door closed quietly as Angela climbed up the stairs and prepared to go to the marketplace. As for me, I jumped into the shoes Angela wanted me to wear and took out the knife I owned from a secret compartment in the dresser and slid it into the left shoe. I had a feeling I would need it today especially since I planned to make a little stop at the gambling places. I needed more money if I wanted to buy Angela that silver bracelet I saw at one of the jewelry stalls. Cracking open the window, I crawled through the tiny space and closed the window just enough so I could open it from the outside if I needed to.

I ran at full speed towards the market. Today was going to be a great day. I just know it.

**Like the story so far? I tried to add as much detail as I could into the chapter without having it drag on and on and on until it got boring. Hopefully, I will be able to describe the action scenes in the next chapter well enough so that you can picture it.**

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**Next Chapter: Working Against Fate**


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